(File photo)

Jia, a woman in her 60s, sued her husband, Shao, who has been living with her for 43 years, demanding divorce because Shao was involved in an internet relationship, according to a report by the Beijing Youth Daily.

The relationship between Shao and 68-year-old Jia started from 1969 and they got married in 1972. Jiao claimed that she heard Shao talking about love on the telephone some day in March 2014 and she was aware that Shao conducted escapades.

"Shao never went out of the room before then, sitting in his room and chatting with specific net friends day and night," said Jia. Shao never communicated with his wife Jia in that period. Feeling hurt by Shao's misbehavior, Jia decided to divorce him.

The report said that an increasing number of seniors have acquired internet skills in recent years and divorce disputes aroused by online love affairs are also a growing trend. Online love affairs have become a new big incentive for divorce among the elderly.

A court in Xicheng district of Beijing has received 163 petitions for divorce among the elderly in 2014, an increase of 13.2 per cent from 144 in 2013, said Zhang Tao, a clerk in charge of family affairs for the court.

Apart from divorce due to online love affairs the court also sees an increasing trend of "quick marriage" and "quick divorce", according to Zhang.

Some seniors resort to marriage not for love but to find a partner to take care of their life, said Zhang. Lack of mutual understanding before marriage along with differences between lifestyles, thinking habits and values is the main cause for quick marriage and quick divorce.

Intervention from offspring also leads to divorce among seniors, according to research by the court.

"Children take the issue of property ownership into consideration and forbid their parents to get remarried," said Zhang. According to Zhang, offspring are not only the origin of contradictions in their parents' marriage but also a main drive in the process and at the end of divorce.

Shao eventually managed to save his marriage by promising to Jia that he will do more housework and communicate more with her.